Research Question: What is the policy with schools and contraceptives? Contributed by: Alyson Gorden 1.) This article describes the Portland School Committees policy with contraceptives. This school voted and came to the conclusion that they would provide prescription contraceptives to any student at this King Middle School. Also the majority of the voters were in favor of providing birth control to these middle school aged children as well. Later, the article states that the Washington- based law firm confirms that contraceptives should be readily available to students that are at least of age 14 and have parental consent. The article provided the feeling of two different parents, one who is opposed to the contraceptives being given out at school as well and the view that this is a smart and healthy choice.
I think this article is very fair in the aspect that it depicts both sides of the argument and is not biased one way or another. This was quite shocking to me to read because I thing seventh graders are a little too young for birth control to be dispensed. If I were a parent I would be upset because I think at that age the children should be taught about the contraceptives and how to be safe, but actually giving them out might send these KIDS the wrong idea.
(2007). Portland school board plans to keep contraceptive policy. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.sunjournal.com/story/237650-3/MaineNews/Portland_school_board_plans_to_keep_contraceptive_policy/
2.) This article was definitely in favor of giving out condoms or some type of contraceptive in a school setting. This article talked about the fact that many schools do not have this policy but if they were to adopt it, it could help the teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates. In this article states that more than 800,000 teenagers become pregnant and 3 million get some sort of sexually transmitted disease. If contraceptives were easy to get and available through the school this article states that these high statistics should dramatically drop.
These numbers were important to see because it demonstrates the need for contraceptives in all school. With these numbers increasing and the number of schools who have a contraceptive policy staying microscopic, it is easy to see that something must be done. This article helped me form my opinion that contraceptives in school should be taught and encouraged. This does not mean to promote sex, it means to educate the individual so that when he or she gets to the age where they become sexually active they can make an intelligent choice and go about it in a safe and healthy way.
Center for Heath Improvement. (2007). School-based health centers: increasing access to contraceptives. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.healthpolicyguide.org/doc.asp?id=6423
3.) This article was extremely informative, but this summary is based on a chart found on the site. This chart showed the percentages of middle schools and high schools that have some sort of health service. These schools had such things as pregnancy testing, HIV/AIDS counseling, STD testing, contraceptives counseling, gynecologic exams, pap smears, sexual orientation counseling, HIV testing, contraceptive dispersing, and pre-natal care. This chart illustrated which of these health services were found in the most school and which ones were found in the least. The eye-opener here was to find out that contraceptive dispersing was the second least found in school, almost tied with pre-natal care.
To me this chart proved that children are having unsafe sex, based on the lack of knowledge and lack of availability of contraceptives. These children can be given pregnancy tests, STD tests, and counseling on the subjects at more schools then is able to get a condom. Instead if contraceptive dispersing was in more schools, rather than pregnancy testing, there would probably be less need for a pregnancy test. How is giving a child a test to find out if they are pregnant more available then giving a child a condom to help prevent getting pregnant? To me this chart demonstrated the fact that our school systems may be working backwards.
The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1999). Facts in brief: Teen sex and pregnancy. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/03/5/gr030505.html
4.) This next article was a parent’s view on the contraceptive policy in schools. It gave a different look on the topic and one that might be useful for young adults to read. This father said the he understands that schools may distribute condoms without parent knowledge or consent. He said that that is okay with him, but providing a student with birth control is another story. He said if his daughter was given birth control at the age of 14 and she decided not to tell him, it could be detrimental to her health. He mentioned that a side effect of birth control is usually blood clotting and if the child’s family medical history shows signs of that being a problem it could potentially kill her. At the age of 14 she might not know to speak up and tell the doctor about this before it is giving to her. Schools must take this into consideration and not overlook the medical backgrounds these children might have.
I found this article to be extremely interesting because I never thought of it this way. I always thought the lack of parental consent was just because the child thought the parent would not approve of their behaviors. I never thought about the severity of taking medication without your parents knowing to be such a health risk. Now that I see this point I agree that there must be parental consent for birth control pills.
Sinasohn, Roger. (2007). Another side of school birth control. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.parentdish.com/2007/10/24/another-side-of-school-birth-control/
5.) This last article was a bunch of stats that were equated during a survey about contraceptive policies in schools. This survey was done in the state of New York to approximately 1000 adults. It was found that 67% supported schools providing some sort of contraceptive to the students. 62% agreed that giving out birth control would lower the teenage pregnancy rate as well. 37% of the people wanted to keep birth control being provided to students that had parental permission. Also it showed that most of these adults were for giving birth control to students between the ages of 16 – 18, and a smaller percentage for students 15 or younger. The article also ended with a counter argument saying that from a religious standpoint giving out contraceptives is wrong and confuses young minds into thinking pre-marital sex is okay.
This article was probably my favorite because it fit hand in hand with my opinion on the topic. I feel that contraceptives should definitely be given out in the school settings, and birth control with parental consent. The other part that I had in common with the article was the fact that less people thought children under 15 should be given contraceptives. I believe if we hand out these items at too young of an age it will promote sex, not just safe sex. The problem is, what is the right age?
Chen, Gina. (2007). Poll: Let Schools Give Birth Control. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/living-4/1193994138233440.xml&coll=1
Contributed by: Alyson Gorden
1.) This article describes the Portland School Committees policy with contraceptives. This school voted and came to the conclusion that they would provide prescription contraceptives to any student at this King Middle School. Also the majority of the voters were in favor of providing birth control to these middle school aged children as well. Later, the article states that the Washington- based law firm confirms that contraceptives should be readily available to students that are at least of age 14 and have parental consent. The article provided the feeling of two different parents, one who is opposed to the contraceptives being given out at school as well and the view that this is a smart and healthy choice.
I think this article is very fair in the aspect that it depicts both sides of the argument and is not biased one way or another. This was quite shocking to me to read because I thing seventh graders are a little too young for birth control to be dispensed. If I were a parent I would be upset because I think at that age the children should be taught about the contraceptives and how to be safe, but actually giving them out might send these KIDS the wrong idea.
(2007). Portland school board plans to keep contraceptive policy. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.sunjournal.com/story/237650-3/MaineNews/Portland_school_board_plans_to_keep_contraceptive_policy/
2.) This article was definitely in favor of giving out condoms or some type of contraceptive in a school setting. This article talked about the fact that many schools do not have this policy but if they were to adopt it, it could help the teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates. In this article states that more than 800,000 teenagers become pregnant and 3 million get some sort of sexually transmitted disease. If contraceptives were easy to get and available through the school this article states that these high statistics should dramatically drop.
These numbers were important to see because it demonstrates the need for contraceptives in all school. With these numbers increasing and the number of schools who have a contraceptive policy staying microscopic, it is easy to see that something must be done. This article helped me form my opinion that contraceptives in school should be taught and encouraged. This does not mean to promote sex, it means to educate the individual so that when he or she gets to the age where they become sexually active they can make an intelligent choice and go about it in a safe and healthy way.
Center for Heath Improvement. (2007). School-based health centers: increasing access to contraceptives. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.healthpolicyguide.org/doc.asp?id=6423
3.) This article was extremely informative, but this summary is based on a chart found on the site. This chart showed the percentages of middle schools and high schools that have some sort of health service. These schools had such things as pregnancy testing, HIV/AIDS counseling, STD testing, contraceptives counseling, gynecologic exams, pap smears, sexual orientation counseling, HIV testing, contraceptive dispersing, and pre-natal care. This chart illustrated which of these health services were found in the most school and which ones were found in the least. The eye-opener here was to find out that contraceptive dispersing was the second least found in school, almost tied with pre-natal care.
To me this chart proved that children are having unsafe sex, based on the lack of knowledge and lack of availability of contraceptives. These children can be given pregnancy tests, STD tests, and counseling on the subjects at more schools then is able to get a condom. Instead if contraceptive dispersing was in more schools, rather than pregnancy testing, there would probably be less need for a pregnancy test. How is giving a child a test to find out if they are pregnant more available then giving a child a condom to help prevent getting pregnant? To me this chart demonstrated the fact that our school systems may be working backwards.
The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1999). Facts in brief: Teen sex and pregnancy. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/03/5/gr030505.html
4.) This next article was a parent’s view on the contraceptive policy in schools. It gave a different look on the topic and one that might be useful for young adults to read. This father said the he understands that schools may distribute condoms without parent knowledge or consent. He said that that is okay with him, but providing a student with birth control is another story. He said if his daughter was given birth control at the age of 14 and she decided not to tell him, it could be detrimental to her health. He mentioned that a side effect of birth control is usually blood clotting and if the child’s family medical history shows signs of that being a problem it could potentially kill her. At the age of 14 she might not know to speak up and tell the doctor about this before it is giving to her. Schools must take this into consideration and not overlook the medical backgrounds these children might have.
I found this article to be extremely interesting because I never thought of it this way. I always thought the lack of parental consent was just because the child thought the parent would not approve of their behaviors. I never thought about the severity of taking medication without your parents knowing to be such a health risk. Now that I see this point I agree that there must be parental consent for birth control pills.
Sinasohn, Roger. (2007). Another side of school birth control. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.parentdish.com/2007/10/24/another-side-of-school-birth-control/
5.) This last article was a bunch of stats that were equated during a survey about contraceptive policies in schools. This survey was done in the state of New York to approximately 1000 adults. It was found that 67% supported schools providing some sort of contraceptive to the students. 62% agreed that giving out birth control would lower the teenage pregnancy rate as well. 37% of the people wanted to keep birth control being provided to students that had parental permission. Also it showed that most of these adults were for giving birth control to students between the ages of 16 – 18, and a smaller percentage for students 15 or younger. The article also ended with a counter argument saying that from a religious standpoint giving out contraceptives is wrong and confuses young minds into thinking pre-marital sex is okay.
This article was probably my favorite because it fit hand in hand with my opinion on the topic. I feel that contraceptives should definitely be given out in the school settings, and birth control with parental consent. The other part that I had in common with the article was the fact that less people thought children under 15 should be given contraceptives. I believe if we hand out these items at too young of an age it will promote sex, not just safe sex. The problem is, what is the right age?
Chen, Gina. (2007). Poll: Let Schools Give Birth Control. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/living-4/1193994138233440.xml&coll=1
EDC 102 Fnl Prj Part I Eval - Alyson